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Against a backdrop of ongoing conflicts, the erosion of international law and the weakening of the UN as the democratic global governance space - and in which civil society is operating in an increasingly difficult environment - addressing the interconnected polycrisis has become complex and challenging. Hopes for meaningful reform of global economic governance at the Fourth International Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) in 2025 were ultimately not realised, largely due to the dilution of outcomes by the Global North.

Yet despite the difficult context, there are important opportunities to advance our agenda to democratise global economic governance. 2026 is a crucial year for the negotiation of the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. The outcomes will shape global tax rules, impacting the ability of countries—especially in the Global South—to mobilise domestic resources, and it will set the standard in international taxation. Inspired by this, the global debt movement is also stepping up efforts to advance a UN Debt Framework Convention while also campaigning for urgent debt cancellation in the Global South.

The governance framework for international development cooperation will also be under scrutiny this year as the OECD-DAC launches a review of its role. Building on the important collaborations in the run-up to FfD4, the CSO community working on international development cooperation will seek to build a groundswell of support for a “third-way”- a democratic, rules-based, accountable and responsive framework work to replace the current aid system - shaped by the shifting priorities of rich countries and an overreliance on private finance - which itself followed the traditional charity-based aid system tied to colonial legacies.

In Europe negotiations of the next EU development budget (the so-called Multiannual Financial Framework or MFF) for the period 2028-2034 will also reach their final stages this year. This will be a decisive moment for the future of development cooperation in Europe.

Eurodad’s 2026 Policy Forum seeks to be a space to analyse the current challenging context while highlighting the opportunities that the global economic justice movement can capitalise on. It takes place at a time of great uncertainty about the economic fallout of the war in Iran, the social consequences of the threatened energy and food crises and the impact of the breakdown of multilateralism on global processes and institutions. There is also anxiety in civil society about funding cuts and shrinking space to fulfil our role effectively. The Policy Forum will be an opportunity for hopeful and unorthodox but realistic analysis, to provide ideas, develop strategies and energise our collective work.

Speakers

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Agenda

Thursday, 18 June 2026

9.00-9.30 Registrations

9.30-10.00 Welcome and keynote address reflecting on the theme of the Policy Forum

10.00-11.30 Panel 1 "The road to Debt Justice: a UN Debt Convention to cancel the debt and change the system"

Most countries in the Global South struggle today with unsustainable and illegitimate debts. In a full blown debt crisis, exacerbated by geopolitical tensions and the spillovers of the war in Iran, communities in the global south need urgent debt cancellation. But Debt justice is not just about dropping the debt, it’s about changing the system. Reforming global debt architecture is today more urgent than ever. The call from civil society, together with African countries and Small Island Developing States at FfD4 for a UN Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt, is key to the road to debt justice. Leading creditor countries - most notably the EU and UK, oppose any substantial change to the status quo: a debt architecture dominated by creditors. While the “Sevilla Commitment” did not deliver on the changes that civil society advocated for, there were agreements that can help us advance towards the systemic changes needed.  It is essential to plot out the roadmap to get the urgent debt relief that many countries need at the same time as we advance towards a UN debt convention.  Tackling European and other Global North country blockers is critical to both goals. 

11.30-12.00 Coffee break

12.00-13.15 Parallel workshops

13.15-14.45 Lunch

14.45-16.15 Panel 2 "UN Tax Negotiations: An inspiration for broader global economic governance reform"

Collective negotiations on the substance of the UN Convention on International Tax Cooperation kicked off in 2025. The US had already pulled out of the negotiations in February 2025. Its exit drove home the importance of achieving a strong and ambitious negotiated framework convention on international tax cooperation, which reflects a balanced and fair agreement rather than the current ineffective OECD-run model of international tax cooperation (in which a large part of the world has little to no voice or influence, while the US has repeatedly played a major role in drafting rules it doesn't intend to implement). As the process advances into a year of substantive negotiations, this panel will take stock of developments and draw learnings from the challenges the tax justice movement has encountered in advocating for robust modalities with effective civil society engagement. The panel will bring together experts who are closely engaged in the negotiations and will be a source of information and inspiration for other movements seeking global economic governance reform under the auspices of the UN. It will also touch upon the campaign to promote taxation of fossil fuel companies launched earlier this year together with Eurodad members and allies. It is part of the umbrella Era of Justice campaign, with this phase led by CNCD-11.11.11 and Eurodad together with 7 other  members. 

16.15-16.45 Coffee break

16.45-18.00 Parallel workshops

19.00 Social event

Friday, 19 June 2026

9.30-11.00 Panel 3 "The private finance agenda post-FfD4: How do we stop the Titanic from hitting the iceberg?"

FfD4 became all about fast-tracking private-sector led development. This agenda, which rests on the notion that private investment will miraculously provide the missing billions that are urgently needed to meet development and climate commitments, continues to be promoted relentlessly. This is despite the fact that the ‘billions to trillions’ agenda of the World Bank a decade ago never materialised. 

In this vein, the EU stepped up its Global Gateway strategy in 2025. This included the launch of the Global Gateway Investment Hub, a new platform for European companies to participate more easily in shaping policy priorities and identifying strategic projects. In practice, this is a blow for those who are calling for the Global Gateway to no longer be Brussels-driven and instead more driven from Global South countries themselves. Indeed, the EU seems willing to sacrifice its treaty commitments to eradicate poverty in order to join the broader shift to turn development into a transaction, continuing centuries of colonial extraction of raw materials.  The Global Gateway is set to be the framework for the external dimension of the next MFF.

This panel will consider  the ongoing MFF negotiations and the preparations for COP31, as the stalemate that continues on vulnerable countries’ proposed target of tripling grant-based public climate finance for adaptation to at least US$120 billion by 2030 as well as the accelerated momentum to reform international development finance architecture. It will highlight opportunities and strategies to protect public finance and ensure that the current agenda takes into account  evidence of private finance’s limitations and weaknesses.

11.00-11.30 Coffee break

11.30-12.00 Close of Policy Forum

12.00-13.15 Lunch break

13.15-16.00 Eurodad General Assembly (members and statutory allies only)